“A collection of profound and epic album reviews and musical articles by former astronaut and brain surgeon, Alasdair Kennedy. Reaching levels of poetry that rival Keats and Blake, the following reviews affirm Alasdair to be a prodigy, a genius and a god whose opinion is always objectively right. He is also without a doubt the most modest man in the universe.” - Alasdair Kennedy

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Thursday, 14 July 2016

Review of 'The Getaway' by The Red Hot Chili Peppers

The once wild Californian
funk-rockers have slowly got more sleepy and tame over the years – once a pack
of jumping leg-humping Jack Russells, now a mass of somnolent salivating senior
St Bernards. What a sickening amount of alliteration I just used there.

Yes, RHCP have always been just as lovable, but not nearly as
playful in recent years as proved by their utterly unmemorable last album I’m With You and previous two-hour slog Stadium Arcadium. Now releasing The Getaway, it seems the band have
decided to make a getaway from Rick Rubin and the formulaic alt rock sound that’s
been dragging them down for the last decade. Upping the funk but being careful not to
simply imitate their Blood Sugar Sex
Magik glory days, they’ve instead decided to excitedly reinvent themselves
bringing in spacey synths such as on ‘Go Robot’ and psychedelic guitar effects as
found on title track ‘The Getaway’. Some dude called Elton John contributes
some pianos, adding a new dimension. Frontman Anthony Kiedis meanwhile proves
to be as nutty a lyricist as ever delivering lines such as ‘two centipedes stuck in one glass jar’
and curiously telling listeners to ‘do
the avocado!’.

Indeed Flea could have tried to write a few less familiar basslines,
but otherwise the album is teeming with fresh ideas. It’s just a pity that the
band have continued to sound more like fresh bell peppers rather than chillies.
Despite the big bearded bloke not being around to produce the album, the
guitars still sound thin and the vocals still sound flat. All in all, everyone sounds half-asleep, Indeed, they’ve got
more playful, but they aren’t packing that spicy kick any more that made
them so hot in the beginning.

‘Time to call it a day’
sings Kiedis on ‘The Longest Wave’. Thankfully I don’t believe this sentiment
to be true. Whilst the Chillies are getting older, I don’t think they’ve lost all
their energy just yet. In fact there are teasing glimpses on this album such as
the boisterous end of ‘Goodbye Angels’ and the raw guitar riff of ‘This
Tinconderoga’ that show the group have heaps energy stored away.

All the band need are a few coffees to get them sounding
lively again. A creative album, The
Getaway just feels a little too laid back in its delivery for the guys who
once wore nothing but socks on their cocks.